Information providing device and information providing method

ABSTRACT

A proposal subject determination unit selects, from multiple users, a combination of users of which the degree of affinity is a first degree-of-affinity threshold value or greater and determines that the users included in the selected combination are subject to the trip proposal. A proposal execution unit sets a location in which a degree of interest of a first one of the subject users is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value as a destination of the trip proposal and provides the trip proposal having the set location as a destination to the subject users. The proposal execution unit gives a first trip proposal or a second trip proposal to a second user in accordance with a degree of affinity between the subject users, a degree of interest of the second user in the set location, and a trip preference of the second user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2016-238046 filed on Dec. 7, 2016, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND ART

The present invention relates to an information providing device and aninformation providing method for proposing a trip to a user.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-73184 describes anexample of an information providing device including a spot informationdatabase that stores, for example, information related to a stopovercandidate spot such as location, type, allowed stopover time, rating,and fee of the stopover candidate spot. Further, such an informationproviding device has a route information database that stores, forexample, information related to the means of transportation necessaryfor reaching the stopover candidate spot such as means of transportationthat can be used to travel in a designated section, a timetable of themeans of transportation, and a fee schedule. Further, when the userinputs the necessary information of the planned trip such as the plannedstopover spot and planned stopover time, the information providingdevice refers to the spot information database and the route informationdatabase to generate an optimized recommended trip plan satisfying theinput condition. This prompts the user to go on trips.

However, in order for the information providing device to generate arecommended trip plan, the user needs to input the necessary informationrelated to the trip. In other words, the information providing device isdesigned under the assumption that a user is intending to take a trip toa planned stopover spot. For this reason, the information providingdevice cannot generate a recommended trip plan when the user has not seta planned stopover spot. Therefore, the information providing device isunable to prompt the user to go on a trip when the use has not set aplanned stopover spot.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide an informationproviding device and an information providing method that prompts theuser to go on a trip by proposing a trip including the setting of adestination to the user.

To achieve the above object, an information providing device configuredto propose a trip to multiple users in parallel includes adegree-of-affinity estimation unit, a proposal subject determinationunit, a degree-of-interest estimation unit, a trip preference estimationunit, and a proposal execution unit. The degree-of-affinity estimationunit is configured to estimate a degree of affinity of each of the userswith respect to another one of the users. The proposal subjectdetermination unit that selects, from the multiple users, a combinationof users of which the degree of affinity is greater than or equal to afirst degree-of-affinity threshold value and determines that the usersincluded in the selected combination are users that are subject to thetrip proposal. The degree-of-interest estimation unit is configured toestimate a degree of interest in each of a plurality of locations thatare destination candidates for each of the subject users. The trippreference estimation unit is configured to estimate a trip preferencethat is an index indicating a degree of preference for taking a trip foreach of the subject users. The proposal execution unit is configured toset a location in which the degree of interest of a first one of thesubject users is greater than or equal to a predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value as a destination of the trip proposaland provide the subject users with the trip proposal in which thelocation is set as the destination. The proposal execution unit isconfigured to provide a second one of the subject users with a firsttrip proposal if the degree of affinity between the subject users isgreater than or equal to a second degree-of-affinity threshold value,which is greater than the first degree-of-affinity threshold value, whenthe degree of interest of the second user in the set location is greaterthan or equal to the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold valueand the trip preference of the second user is greater than or equal to apredetermined trip preference threshold value. The proposal executionunit is configured to provide the second user with a second tripproposal if the degree of interest of the second user in the setlocation is less than the predetermined degree-of-interest thresholdvalue or if the trip preference of the second user is less than thepredetermined trip preference threshold value. In the second tripproposal, a degree of recommendation of the trip proposal is increasedfrom the first trip proposal.

To achieve the above object, an information providing method forproposing a trip to multiple users in parallel includes estimating adegree of affinity of each of the users with respect to another one ofthe users; selecting, from the multiple users, a combination of users ofwhich the degree of affinity is greater than or equal to a firstdegree-of-affinity threshold value and determining that the usersincluded in the selected combination are users that are subject to thetrip proposal; estimating a degree of interest in each of a plurality oflocations that are destination candidates for each of the subject users;estimating a trip preference that is an index indicating a degree ofpreference for taking a trip for each of the subject users; setting alocation in which the degree of interest of a first one of the subjectusers is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree-of-interestthreshold value as a destination of the trip proposal and providing thesubject users with the trip proposal in which the location is set as thedestination; providing a second one of the subject users with a firsttrip proposal if the degree of affinity between the subject users isgreater than or equal to a second degree-of-affinity threshold value,which is greater than the first degree-of-affinity threshold value, whenthe degree of interest of the second user in the set location is greaterthan or equal to the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold valueand the trip preference of the second user is greater than or equal to apredetermined trip preference threshold value; and providing the seconduser with a second trip proposal if the degree of interest of the seconduser in the set location is less than the predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value or if the trip preference of thesecond user is less than the predetermined trip preference thresholdvalue. In the second trip proposal, a degree of recommendation of thetrip proposal is increased from the first trip proposal.

To achieve the above object, an information providing device configuredto propose a trip to multiple users in parallel, the informationproviding device includes circuitry configured to estimate a degree ofaffinity of each of the users with respect to another one of the users;select, from the multiple users, a combination of users of which thedegree of affinity is greater than or equal to a firstdegree-of-affinity threshold value and determine that the users includedin the selected combination are users that are subject to the tripproposal; estimate a degree of interest in each of a plurality oflocations that are destination candidates for each of the subject users;estimate a trip preference that is an index indicating a degree ofpreference for taking a trip for each of the subject users; set alocation in which the degree of interest of a first one of the subjectusers is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree-of-interestthreshold value as a destination of the trip proposal and provide thesubject users with the trip proposal in which the location is set as thedestination; provide a second one of the subject users with a first tripproposal if the degree of affinity between the subject users is greaterthan or equal to a second degree-of-affinity threshold value, which isgreater than the first degree-of-affinity threshold value, when thedegree of interest of the second user in the set location is greaterthan or equal to the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold valueand the trip preference of the second user is greater than or equal to apredetermined trip preference threshold value; and provide the seconduser with a second trip proposal if the degree of interest of the seconduser in the set location is less than the predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value or if the trip preference of thesecond user is less than the predetermined trip preference thresholdvalue. In the second trip proposal, a degree of recommendation of thetrip proposal is increased from the first trip proposal.

To achieve the above object, a computer readable medium that stores aprogram executed by an information providing device to propose a trip toa plurality of users in parallel. The program instructs the informationproviding device to estimate a degree of affinity of each of the userswith respect to another one of the users; select, from the multipleusers, a combination of users of which the degree of affinity is greaterthan or equal to a first degree-of-affinity threshold value anddetermine that the users included in the selected combination are usersthat are subject to the trip proposal; estimate a degree of interest ineach of a plurality of locations that are destination candidates foreach of the subject users; estimate a trip preference that is an indexindicating a degree of preference for taking a trip for each of thesubject users; set a location in which the degree of interest of a firstone of the subject users is greater than or equal to a predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value as a destination of the trip proposaland provide the subject users with the trip proposal in which thelocation is set as the destination; provide a second one of the subjectusers with a first trip proposal if the degree of affinity between thesubject users is greater than or equal to a second degree-of-affinitythreshold value, which is greater than the first degree-of-affinitythreshold value, when the degree of interest of the second user in theset location is greater than or equal to the predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value and the trip preference of the seconduser is greater than or equal to a predetermined trip preferencethreshold value; and provide the second user with a second trip proposalif the degree of interest of the second user in the set location is lessthan the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value or if the trippreference of the second user is less than the predetermined trippreference threshold value. In the second trip proposal, a degree ofrecommendation of the trip proposal is increased from the first tripproposal.

To achieve the above object, a program is used to propose a trip tomultiple users in parallel with an information providing device. Theprogram instructs the information providing device to estimate a degreeof affinity of each of the users with respect to another one of theusers; select, from the multiple users, a combination of users of whichthe degree of affinity is greater than or equal to a firstdegree-of-affinity threshold value and determine that the users includedin the selected combination are users that are subject to the tripproposal; estimate a degree of interest in each of a plurality oflocations that are destination candidates for each of the subject users;estimate a trip preference that is an index indicating a degree ofpreference for taking a trip for each of the subject users; set alocation in which the degree of interest of a first one of the subjectusers is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree-of-interestthreshold value as a destination of the trip proposal and provide thesubject users with the trip proposal in which the location is set as thedestination; provide a second one of the subject users with a first tripproposal if the degree of affinity between the subject users is greaterthan or equal to a second degree-of-affinity threshold value, which isgreater than the first degree-of-affinity threshold value, when thedegree of interest of the second user in the set location is greaterthan or equal to the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold valueand the trip preference of the second user is greater than or equal to apredetermined trip preference threshold value; and provide the seconduser with a second trip proposal if the degree of interest of the seconduser in the set location is less than the predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value or if the trip preference of thesecond user is less than the predetermined trip preference thresholdvalue. In the second trip proposal, a degree of recommendation of thetrip proposal is increased from the first trip proposal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention, together with objects and advantages thereof, may best beunderstood by reference to the following description of the presentlypreferred embodiments together with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the flow of a process related to a tripproposal process executed by an information providing device accordingto a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the configuration ofthe information providing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table used forestimation of a degree of affinity between users;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table used forestimation of a degree of interest of a user with respect to a facility;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating exemplary characteristic quantitiesthat characterizing the burden on a user when the user travels;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondingrelationship between states included in a travel route and burden of auser;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the burden on a user in each stateincluded in a travel route;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the burden on differentusers for different states;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the flow of a process for estimating atrip preference of a user;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating one example of a trip proposalprovided by the information providing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of a trip proposalprovided by the information providing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a further example of a trip proposalprovided by the information providing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the correspondingrelationship of degree of affinity of users, degree of interest, andtrip preference, trip proposal content, and proposal order;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the process contents of a tripproposal process executed by the information providing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating one example of a trip proposalprovided by an information providing device according to a secondembodiment;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating another example of a trip proposalprovided by the information providing device of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a further example of a trip proposalprovided by the information providing device of FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondingrelationship of degree of affinity, degree of interest, trip preference,physical ability, ownership of a car, trip proposal content, andproposal order;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating one example of a trip proposalprovided by an information providing device according to a thirdembodiment; and

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondingrelationship of degree of affinity, degree of interest, trip preference,and relationship of users, trip proposal content, and proposal order.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

An information providing device according to a first embodiment will nowbe described.

First, the overview of the flow of a process for proposing a tripthrough the information providing device according to the firstembodiment will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, the information providing device is configured as acenter 100 that manages information of multiple users possessing amobile information terminal 200 such as a mobile phone, a tabletterminal, a wearable device, or a robot. The center 100 estimates adegree of affinity between the users in advance. The center 100 firstdetermines two subject users who are subject to a trip proposal. Then,the center 100 sets a facility (location) in which a first one of thetwo subject users subject to the trip proposal has a high degree ofinterest as a destination of the trip proposal. With respect to thefacility set as the destination, the center 100 acquires the degree ofinterest for the second one of the two subject users subject to the tripproposal. The center 100 estimates a trip preference, which is an indexindicating the preference for taking trips, for the first and secondusers. The center 100 determines the trip proposal content when thefacility is determined as the destination and the proposal order for thefirst and second users in accordance with the estimated degree ofaffinity between the first and second users, the degree of interest inthe facility, and the trip preference. Then, the center 100 provides themobile information terminals 200 possessed by the first and second userswith a trip proposal based on the determined proposal contents and theproposal order. Thereafter, the center 100 acquires responses to thetrip proposal from the first and second users through the mobileinformation terminals 200. When acquiring a response indicating that atleast one of the users has not accepted the trip proposal, the center100 reselects a combination of two users who are subject to a tripproposal and generates a new trip proposal. In contrast, when receivingresponses to the trip proposal from the first and second users, thecenter 100 updates data related to the degree of interest between thefirst and second users, the degree of interest in the facility, and thetrip preference for the first and second users.

The configuration of the device of the first embodiment will now bedescribed with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 2, the center 100 includes a control unit 110 thatcontrols a trip proposal process and a storage unit 120 that stores aninformation providing program executed by the control unit 110 in thetrip proposal process and various kinds of data which are read orwritten by the control unit 110 when the information providing programis executed. Further, when executing the information providing programstored in the storage unit 120, the control unit 110 functions as adegree-of-affinity estimation unit 111, a degree-of-interest estimationunit 112, a trip preference estimation unit 113, a proposal subjectdetermination unit 114, and a proposal execution unit 115. The center100 may be configured as a circuitry including 1) one or more dedicatedhardware circuits such as an ASIC, 2) one or more processors operatingin accordance with a computer program (software), or 3) a combinationthereof. The processor includes a CPU and memories such as a RAM and aROM. The memory stores program codes or commands that have the CPUexecute processing. A memory or a computer readable medium includes anyapplicable media that can be accessed by a versatile or dedicatedcomputer.

The degree-of-affinity estimation unit 111 acquires information relatedto friendship between the users that are registered to a social networkservice (SNS) or the like, information related to the history ofmessages exchanged between the users through the SNS, or the like froman external server 300. Then, the degree-of-affinity estimation unit 111estimates the degree of affinity between the users based on the acquiredinformation and stores degree-of-affinity data 121, which has beenobtained through the estimation, in the storage unit 120.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a data table used by thedegree-of-affinity estimation unit 111 to estimate the degree ofaffinity of the users. For each set of user IDs of two users among theuser IDs registered in the center 100, the data table of the exampleillustrated in FIG. 3 indicates whether or not the two users areregistered as friends to the SNS in addition to the frequency ofexchange of messages. When two users are registered as friends to theSNS and exchange messages at a relatively high frequency, thedegree-of-affinity estimation unit 111 estimates that the degree ofaffinity between the users is greater than or equal to a seconddegree-of-affinity threshold value and thus high. In contrast, when twousers are registered as friends to the SNS but exchange messages at arelatively low frequency, the degree-of-affinity estimation unit 111estimates that the degree of affinity between the users is greater thanor equal to a first degree-of-affinity threshold value but less than thesecond degree-of-affinity threshold value and thus moderate. Further,when two users have not been registered as friends to the SNS, thedegree-of-affinity estimation unit 111 estimates that the degree ofaffinity between the users is less than the first degree-of-affinitythreshold value and thus low.

The degree-of-interest estimation unit 112 acquires information from theexternal server 300 indicating the preferences of a user such asinformation of programs watched on the television, read magazineinformation, browsed website information, or the like in addition toinformation exchanged with friends on the SNS. The read magazineinformation is acquired from, for example, the history of magazinespurchased by the user, the history of electronic books read with themobile information terminal 200, or the like. Then, thedegree-of-interest estimation unit 112 estimates the degree of interestof the user for each facility based on the acquired information andstores degree-of-interest data 122 obtained by the estimation in thestorage unit 120.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a data table used by thedegree-of-interest estimation unit 112 to estimate the degree ofinterest of the user in each facility. In the data table of the exampleillustrated in FIG. 4, the frequency keywords related to a facilityappear on the SNS and the frequency television, magazines, and websitesrelated to the facility have been viewed are registered for eachfacility registered in advance for multiple user IDs registered to thecenter 100. Further, when the appearance frequency of keywords relatedto the facility on the SNS and the viewing frequency of television,magazines, or website related to the facility are both relatively high,the degree-of-interest estimation unit 112 estimates that the degree ofinterest of the user in the facility is greater than or equal to apredetermined degree-of-interest threshold value and thus high. When oneof the appearance frequency and the viewing frequency is relatively low,the degree-of-interest estimation unit 112 estimates that the degree ofinterest of the user in the facility is less than the predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value and thus moderate. When theappearance frequency and the viewing frequency are both relatively low,the degree-of-interest estimation unit 112 estimates that the degree ofinterest of the user in the facility is less than the predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value and thus low.

Referring to FIG. 2, the trip preference estimation unit 113 acquiresdata related to the travel history of trips taken by the user includingdata related to burden when the user went from the mobile informationterminal 200 possessed by the user. The trip preference estimation unit113 estimates a trip preference, which is an index indicating the howmuch the user likes to take trips, based on the acquired data related tothe burden and stores the trip preference data 123 obtained by theestimation in the storage unit 120. In this case, the trip preferenceestimation unit 113 compares the burden of different users when takingthe same trip under the same conditions. When the burden on a subjectuser is smaller than other users, the trip preference of the subjectuser is high. In other words, the trip preference is estimated using thefact that the burden relatively decreases (increases) as the trippreference of the user relatively increases (decreases).

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary characteristic quantities characterizingthe burden when the user goes out. As shown in FIG. 5, examples of thecharacteristic quantities include the type of traveling means, travelpurpose, weather, temperature, road environment when using a car as thetraveling means, usage mode of traveling means, accustomed degree oftravel route, usage time of the traveling means, waiting time requiredto use traveling means, and calories consumed when using the travelingmeans. The various kinds of characteristic quantities illustrated inFIG. 5 are combined to define states.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a data table used by the trippreference estimation unit 113 to estimate the trip preference of theuser. The data table of the example illustrated in FIG. 6 indicatestravel routes of the user, the characteristic quantities for each stateincluded in the travel routes, and the burden on the user for eachstate. The example in FIG. 6 illustrates a travel route used whencommuting to work, a travel route used for shopping, and a travel routeused when traveling for pleasure.

The travel route used for commuting includes a travel section in whichthe user walks from “home” to “station A,” a travel section in which theuser rides a train from “station A” to “station B,” a travel section inwhich the user changes trains and then rides the train from “station B”to “station C,” and a travel section in which the user walks from“station C” to “workplace.” Situations of the user when moving in eachtravel section are taken into account when setting the states includedin the travel route for commuting.

FIG. 7 illustrates the burden on the user for each state included in thetravel route for commuting that is illustrated in FIG. 6. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 7, the travel route used for commuting includes atravel section from “home” to “station A,” a travel section from the“station A” to a “station B,” a travel section from “station B” to“station C,” and a travel section from “station C” to a “workplace.” Thestates respectively correspond to the travel sections. Further, “5,”“3,” “4,” and “3” are used as evaluation values of the burden for eachstate.

FIG. 8 is a data table listing the burden of each state for multipleusers. As shown in FIG. 8, different users tend to feel burden in acommon manner for the same state. Nevertheless, in this example, whencomparing the burden for states “S1” to “S3” on three users allocatedIDs of “ID1,”, “ID2,” and “ID3,” the order of users feeling a higherburden is “ID 3,” “ID 1,” and “ID 2.” Such slight difference betweenusers occurs because one user may like to take trips while another maynot like to take trips and feel burdensome when doing so.

Next, a process for estimating the trip preference with the trippreference estimation unit 113 will be described with reference to FIG.9. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the trip preference estimation unit 113first selects a state group when estimating the trip preference. Thestate group includes a plurality of states. In the example illustratedin FIG. 9, the state group includes state “S1,” state “S200,” and state“S500.” The trip preference estimation unit 113 ranks users in orderfrom those that feel a higher burden for each state included in theselected state group. Further, the trip preference estimation unit 113obtains the rank of a user in the selected state group that is subjectto the trip preference estimation. Then, the trip preference estimationunit 113 obtains the average rank in the plurality of states included inthe selected state group as the trip preference for the user who issubject to the estimation. In the first embodiment, the trip preferenceestimation unit 113 estimates that the trip preference of the user ishigh when the estimation value of the trip preference is greater than orequal to a predetermined trip preference threshold value. In contrast,when the estimation value of the trip preference is less than thepredetermined trip preference threshold value, the trip preferenceestimation unit 113 estimates that the trip preference of the user ismoderate or low. The burden for each user is not necessarily obtainedfor all the states included in the state group. Therefore, the number ofusers compared is not necessarily the same for each state included inthe state group. The trip preference estimation unit 113 may performweight the ranking of the user for each state in view of the number ofusers compared for each of the states included in the state group andthen estimate the trip preference of the user.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the proposal subject determination unit 114selects a combination of the user IDs of two users that are subject tothe trip proposal from the user IDs registered in the center 100 basedon the degree-of-affinity data 121 stored in the storage unit 120.Specifically, the proposal subject determination unit 114 refers to thedata table illustrated in FIG. 3 and selects a combination of two userIDs in which the estimation value of the degree of affinity between thecorresponding users is greater than or equal to the firstdegree-of-affinity threshold value.

The proposal execution unit 115 sets a facility in which the first oneof the two users subject to the trip proposal has a high degree ofinterest as a destination of the trip proposal. Then, the proposalexecution unit 115 determines the proposal content and the proposalorder related to a proposal for a trip to the set destination based onthe degree-of-affinity data 121, the degree-of-interest data 122, andthe trip preference data 123 stored in the storage unit 120.

Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 10, when the degree of affinitybetween the first and second users and the degree of interest and trippreferences of the first user are all high, the proposal execution unit115 issues a “normal recommendation” to the first user. In the samemanner, when the degree of affinity between the first and second usersand the degree of interest and trip preference of the second user areall high, the proposal execution unit 115 issues the “normalrecommendation” to the second user. In the “normal recommendation,” theproposal execution unit 115 provides the user with a short message(proposal content) recommending a trip to the facility that has beenselected as the destination. The “normal recommendation” is suitable fora user who is likely to accept the trip proposal because the user wouldfeel bothersome of the message is long. Further, when the “normalrecommendation” is issued to the first and second users, the proposalexecution unit 115 does not restrict the order for issuing the proposalto the first and second users. Therefore, the proposal execution unit115 sequentially issues the trip proposal whenever suitable for thefirst and second users.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 11, when the degree of affinity betweenthe first and second users is high and the degree of interest of thefirst user is high but the degree of interest of the second user ismedium or low, the proposal execution unit 115 gives a “highrecommendation” to the second user. In the “high recommendation,” theproposal execution unit 115 provides a message (proposal content)prompting the second user to go on the trip and includes informationrecommending the facility from the first user having a high degree ofinterest in the facility. For this reason, the second user who initiallydid not have a high degree of interest in the facility will be attractedto the facility and more likely accept the trip proposal. Thus, in the“high recommendation,” the degree of recommendation of the trip proposalis higher than the “normal recommendation.” In the first embodiment, theproposal execution unit 115 gives the “high recommendation” under thecondition that the degree of affinity between the users is high asdescribed above. This is because when the degree of affinity between thefirst and second users is moderate, even when the second user is giventhe recommendation information for the facility selected as thedestination from the first user having a high degree of interest in thefacility, the second user may not be attracted to the facility. Further,like in the example illustrated in FIG. 11, when the “highrecommendation” is issued, it is necessary for the proposal executionunit 115 to first make an inquiry to the first user having a high degreeof interest in the facility selected as the destination on therecommendation information of the facility. For this reason, theproposal execution unit 115 sets the trip proposal order so that thetrip proposal is issued to the first user through the “normalrecommendation” and then issued to the second user through the “highrecommendation” to the second user. Therefore, the proposal executionunit 115 first issues the “normal recommendation” to the first userincluding the inquiry about the recommendation information of thefacility. Then, the proposal execution unit 115 issues the “highrecommendation” to the second user including the recommendationinformation of the facility obtained through the inquiry.

When at least one of the degree of affinity between the users, thedegree of interest, and the trip preference of at least one of the firstand second users is moderate or low, the proposal execution unit 115gives a “piggyback recommendation” to the users. For example, theproposal execution unit 115 gives the “piggyback recommendation” to thefirst and second users when the degree of affinity between the first andsecond users is moderate, gives the “piggyback recommendation” to thesecond user when the degree of interest of the second user is moderateor less, and gives the “piggyback recommendation” to at least one userwhen the trip preference of at least one user is moderate or low. Asshown in the example of FIG. 12, the proposal execution unit 115 givesthe “piggyback recommendation” to the second user when the trippreference of user B who is the second user is moderate. Here, theproposal execution unit 115 adds a facility that differs from theoriginally set facility as another destination in the “piggybackrecommendation.” In detail, the added facility is a facility in whichthe user provided with the “piggyback recommendation” has a high degreeof interest. Further, the added facility is located near the facilityoriginally set as the destination in map data. For this reason, the userwho is initially not attracted to the facility originally set as thedestination becomes more likely to accept the trip proposal when thefacility in which the user has a high degree of interest is added as thedestination. Thus, in the “piggyback recommendation,” the degree ofrecommendation of trip proposal is higher than the “normalrecommendation.” When the proposal execution unit 115 gives the“piggyback recommendation” like in the example illustrated in FIG. 12,no message is exchanged between the users unlike the “highrecommendation.” Thus, a rule in the proposal order does not necessarilyhave to be set for the first and second users. However, when the “normalrecommendation” is given to the first user and the “piggybackrecommendation” is given to the second user like in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 12, the proposal execution unit 115 sets the tripproposal order so that the trip proposal is given to the second userbefore the first user. In other words, the proposal execution unit 115first gives the trip proposal to the user who is relatively unlikely toaccept the trip proposal and then gives the trip proposal to theremaining user after the trip proposal is accepted. This reducesunnecessary tasks such as providing the user who has accepted the tripproposal with another trip proposal.

The proposal execution unit 115 may give both of the “highrecommendation” and the “piggyback recommendation” to the first orsecond user depending on the degree of affinity, the degree of interest,and the trip preference of the first and second users. When the “highrecommendation” and the “piggyback recommendation” are both given, theproposal execution unit 115 determines the proposal order based on the“high recommendation” rather than the “piggyback recommendation.” Thus,the proposal execution unit 115 first issues the “normal recommendation”including the inquiry about the recommendation information of thefacility to the first user. Then, the proposal execution unit 115 givesthe “high recommendation” and the “piggyback recommendation” includingthe recommendation information of the facility obtained through theinquiry and the newly added destination to the second user.

FIG. 13 illustrates a list of corresponding relationships between thedegree of affinity, the degree of interest, and the trip preference ofthe two users who are subject to the trip proposal, the trip proposalcontent, and the proposal order. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the proposalexecution unit 115 gives an appropriate trip proposal to each user inaccordance with the degree of affinity between the first and secondusers subject to the trip proposal and the degree of interest and thetrip preference of the first and second users.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the proposal execution unit 115 acquires datarelated to a situation of the user from the mobile information terminal200 and determines when to give the trip proposal to the user based onthe acquired user situation. In this case, when the situation of theuser not suitable for the trip proposal, for example, when the user iseating, watching television, sleeping, or the like, the proposalexecution unit 115 does not give the trip proposal. Then, when thesituation of the user becomes the timing suitable for the trip, theproposal execution unit 115 gives the trip proposal to the user throughthe mobile information terminal 200 in accordance with the proposalcontent and the proposal order determined by the proposal execution unit115 as described above.

The proposal execution unit 115 receives responses to the trip proposalfrom the mobile information terminals 200 possessed by the first andsecond users and stores response history data 124 of the receivedresponses in the storage unit 120. Further, the proposal execution unit115 updates the data related to the degree of affinity between the firstand second users and the degree of interest in the facility and the trippreference of the first and second users based on the response historydata 124 and store the updated data in the storage unit 120 as learningdata 125.

Specifically, when a response indicating that the trip proposal has beenaccepted is received from each of the first and second users, theproposal execution unit 115 corrects and increases the degree ofaffinity of the first and second users since a sense of closenessbetween the first and second users is considered to have increased.Furthermore, the proposal execution unit 115 corrects and increases thedegree of interest in the facility since the degree of interest of thefirst and second users in the facility set as the destination isconsidered to have increased. Furthermore, the proposal execution unit115 corrects and increases the trip preference of the first and secondusers since the first and second users are considered to be attracted tothe trip proposal and wish more actively to take a trip than before.

Further, when a response indicating that the trip proposal has not beenaccepted is received from one of the first and second users and aresponse indicating that the trip proposal has been accepted is receivedfrom the other of the first and second users, the proposal executionunit 115 corrects and decreases the degree of affinity between the firstand second users since the sense of closeness between the first andsecond users is considered to have decreased. Further, the proposalexecution unit 115 corrects and increases the degree of interest in thefacility of the user who has accepted the trip proposal since the degreeof interest of the user who has accepted the trip proposal in thefacility set as the destination is considered to have increased. Incontrast, the proposal execution unit 115 corrects and decreases thedegree of interest in the facility of the user who has not accepted thetrip proposal since the degree of interest of the user who has notaccepted the trip proposal in the facility set as the destination isconsidered to have decreased. Further, the proposal execution unit 115corrects and increases the trip preference of the user who has acceptedthe trip proposal since the user who has accepted the trip proposal isconsidered to be attracted to the trip proposal and wishes more activelyto take a trip than before. In contrast, the proposal execution unit 115corrects and decreases the trip preference of the user who has notaccepted the trip proposal since the user who has not accepted the tripproposal is considered not to be attracted to the trip proposal is stillpassive with regard to taking a trip.

Further, when a response indicating that the trip proposal has not beenaccepted is received from each of the first and second users, theproposal execution unit 115 corrects and decreases the degree ofaffinity between the first and second users since the sense of closenessof the first and second users is considered to have decreased.Furthermore, the proposal execution unit 115 corrects and decreases thedegree of interest of the first and second users in the facility sincethe degree of interest of the first and second users in the facility setas the destination is considered to have decreased. Further, theproposal execution unit 115 corrects and decreases the trip preferenceof the first and second users since the first and second users areconsidered not to be attracted to the trip proposal and are stillpassive with regard to taking a trip.

Here, depending on the trip proposal order for the first and secondusers, the proposal execution unit 115 may not give the trip proposal tothe remaining user when a response indicating that the trip proposal hasnot been accepted is received from the user that was given the proposalfirst. In this case, the proposal execution unit 115 corrects anddecreases the degree of affinity between the first and second users, thedegree of interest of the user who has not accepted the trip proposalfor the facility selected as the destination, and the trip preference ofthe user who has not accepted the trip proposal. In contrast, since thetrip proposal is not given to the remaining user, a response to the tripproposal has not received. Thus, the proposal execution unit 115 doesnot update the degree of interest of the user who has not been given thetrip proposal in the facility set as the destination and the trippreference of the user who has not been given the trip proposal.

In other words, in the first embodiment, the proposal execution unit 115corrects and decreases the degree of affinity between the users when atleast one of the users who are subject to the trip proposal does notaccept the trip proposal. In contrast, the proposal execution unit 115updates the degree of interest in the facility set as the destinationand the trip preference for each user depending on whether or not thetrip proposal has accepted.

When a response indicating that the trip proposal has not been acceptedis received from at least one of the first and second users, theproposal execution unit 115 updates the data of the degree of affinitybetween the first and second users and the degree of interest and thetrip preference of the user who has not accepted the trip proposal asdescribed above. Then, the proposal execution unit 115 determineswhether or not to change the trip proposal content for the user who hasnot accepted the trip proposal based on the data of the updated degreeof affinity, the degree of interest, and the trip preference. As aresult, when the trip proposal content is changed, the proposalexecution unit 115 gives a new trip proposal to the user who has notaccepted the trip proposal with the changed proposal content. Incontrast, when the trip proposal content is not changed, the proposalexecution unit 115 instructs the proposal subject determination unit 114to change the person subject to the trip proposal.

Next, the specific processing procedures of the trip proposal processexecuted by the center 100, which functions as the information providingdevice in cooperation with the mobile information terminal 200, will bedescribed. The center 100 executes the trip proposal process illustratedin FIG. 14 in predetermined cycles.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, in the trip proposal process, from thecombinations of users registered to the center 100, the proposal subjectdetermination unit 114 of the center 100 determines a combination of twousers subject to a trip proposal based on the degree-of-affinity data121 stored in the storage unit 120 (step S10).

Then, the proposal execution unit 115 of the center 100 determines tripproposal information for the combination of the two users determined instep S10 based on the degree-of-affinity data 121, thedegree-of-interest data 122, and the trip preference data 123 stored inthe storage unit 120 (step S11). Specifically, the trip proposalinformation includes the trip proposal content and the proposal order.

Then, the center 100 acquires the situation of the user subject to thetrip proposal from the mobile information terminal 200 (step S12). Whenthe situation of the user is determined not to be appropriate for thetrip proposal (NO in step S13), the center 100 returns to step S12 andacquires the situation of the user subject to the trip proposal from themobile information terminal 200. In other words, the center 100repeatedly acquires the situation of the user from the mobileinformation terminal 200 until the situation of the user becomesappropriate for a trip proposal (YES in step S13). When determining thatthe situation of user is suitable for a trip proposal (YES in step S13),the center 100 transmits the proposal information determined in step S11from the proposal execution unit 115 to the mobile information terminal200 (step S14). Thereafter, the center 100 waits until data of aresponse to the trip proposal is received from the mobile informationterminal 200 (NO in step S15).

When the trip proposal information is received from the center 100 (YESin step S20), the mobile information terminal 200 gives the tripproposal to the user based on the received proposal information (stepS21).

Further, the mobile information terminal 200 acquires the response dataof the user to the trip proposal based on the expression or voice of theuser when the trip proposal is given to the user (step S22). Theresponse data of the user includes data indicating whether or not theuser has accepted the trip proposal. Then, the mobile informationterminal 200 transmits the response data, which is acquired from theuser, to the center 100 (step S23).

When the response data to the trip proposal is received from the mobileinformation terminal 200 (YES in step S15), the center 100 updates thedegree-of-affinity data 121, the degree of interest data 122, and thetrip preference data 123 related to the two users subject to the tripproposal based on the received response data with the proposal executionunit 115 (step S16).

Thereafter, when determining from the response data to the trip proposalthat the trip proposal has been accepted by both of the users (YES instep S17), the center 100 ends the trip proposal process illustrated inFIG. 14.

When determining that the trip proposal has not been accepted by atleast one user based on the response data to the trip proposal (NO instep S17), the center 100 determines whether or not to change theproposal content based on the update of the degree-of-affinity data 121,the degree-of-interest data 122, and the trip preference data 123 for tothe two users in step S16 with the proposal execution unit 115 (stepS18). Then, when determining that the proposal content has not beenchanged (NO in step S19), the center 100 ends the trip proposal processillustrated in FIG. 14.

When determining that the proposal content has been changed (YES in stepS19), the center 100 returns to step S12. Then, the center 100 gives thenew trip proposal to the combination of the two users determined in stepS10 with the changed proposal content.

Thereafter, the center 100 repeats the process of step S12 to step S19.When the trip proposal is accepted by the first and second users in stepS17 (YES in step S17) or when determining in step S19 that there thetrip proposal content has not been changed based on the response datafrom the user (NO in step S19), the center 100 ends the trip proposalprocess illustrated in FIG. 14.

Next, the operation of the information providing device according to thefirst embodiment will now be described focusing on when the center 100gives a trip proposal to the user of the mobile information terminal 200in cooperation with the mobile information terminal 200.

Generally, a user is more likely to be attracted to a trip when multipleusers take the trip than when the user takes a trip alone. Therefore,when the trip proposal is given to the user, the trip proposal is morelikely to be accepted by a user when the trip proposal is given tomultiple users than when the trip proposal is given to an individualuser.

In this regard, the center 100 acquires the degree-of-affinity data 121of multiple users in advance and determines a combination of two userssubject to the trip proposal based on the degree of affinity.Accordingly, even when a user initially has no intention to take a trip,the trip proposal is more likely to be accepted if the other user willtake the trip. Further, since the user is prompted to take thisopportunity to go on a trip, the user will use a car more frequently.

The center 100 sets a facility in which the first user has a high degreeof interest as the destination when the trip proposal is given to thetwo users. Thus, the first user is likely to be attracted to the tripproposal. However, the second user would not necessarily have a highdegree of interest in the facility that is set as the destination.

In this regard, the center 100 changes the trip proposal content inaccordance with the data of the degree of affinity between the users,the degree of interest of the user in the facility, and the trippreference of the users. Then, when the user is determined as beingunlikely to accept the trip proposal, the center 100 provides the userwith a trip proposal in which the degree of recommendation is increased.Accordingly, the first and second users are likely to be attracted tothe trip proposal, and the user is further prompted to take thisopportunity and go on a trip. Further, the second user is provided withan opportunity to find a new value in the facility that the user was notaware of and allows the second user to go to more places.

Particularly, the combination of two users subject to the trip proposalis not necessarily limited to a combination of users with a high degreeof affinity and may be a combination of users with a moderate degree ofaffinity. Further, when the trip proposal is given to the combination ofusers, the center 100 gives the trip proposal in a manner stronglyrecommending the trip as described above. Accordingly, the user islikely to be attracted to the trip proposal, and amity between the usersis deepened.

Further, the two users subject to the trip proposal are not necessarilylimited to users having a high trip preference and may be users having amoderate or low trip preference. Further, even when the trip proposal isgiven to such users, the center 100 gives the trip proposal in a mannerstrongly recommending the trip as described above. Accordingly, theusers are likely to be attracted to the trip in addition to the contentof the trip proposal content. This would lead to an increase in the trippreference of the user. As a result, the user will use a car morefrequently.

The first embodiment has the advantages described below.

(1) Multiple users are subject to the trip proposal. Thus, a user whohas not determined where to go is likely to accept the trip proposal ifthe other user will take a trip. Therefore, in contrast with when thetrip proposal is given to a single user, the user can be furtherprompted to take a trip. This, for example, increases the opportunitiesfor the user to use a car. In this case, a facility in which at leastone of the users subject to the trip proposal has a degree of interestthat is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree-of-interestthreshold value is set as a destination. Further, among the userssubject to the trip proposal, a user who is unlikely to accept the tripproposal if provided with a trip proposal in which the degree ofrecommendation of the trip has been increased. Specifically, when theuser is unlikely to accept the trip proposal, the degree of interest inthe facility set as the destination is less than a predetermineddegree-of-interest threshold value, and/or the trip preference is lessthan a predetermined trip preference threshold value. Accordingly, incontrast with when the users subject to the trip proposal are providedwith the same trip proposal, the first embodiment increases thepossibility that the trip proposal will be accepted and effectivelyprompts the user to take a trip.

(2) The trip preference is estimated as an index indicating the degreeof preference of the user to take trips based on the data of the burdenon the user when the user takes a trip. Further, the trip proposalcontent is changed in accordance with the trip preference estimated asdescribed above. This effectively prompts the user to take a trip.

(3) Among the users subject to the trip proposal, a user who is unlikelyto accept the trip proposal is provided with a trip proposal including afacility that the user has a high interest in as an additionaldestination. Specifically, when the user who is unlikely to accept thetrip proposal, the degree of interest in the facility set as thedestination is less than a predetermined degree-of-interest thresholdvalue, and/or the trip preference is less than a predetermined trippreference threshold value. Accordingly, the trip proposal is given tosatisfy a potential demand of the user who is unlikely to accept thetrip proposal. This further effectively prompts the user to take thetrip.

(4) A user having a high degree of interest in the facility set as thedestination is likely to know attractive points of the facility. When auser having a high degree of interest in the facility that is set as thedestination and a user having a low degree of interest in the samefacility are the users subject to the trip proposal, specific individualrecommendation information from the user having the high degree ofinterest is added to the trip proposal given to the user having the lowdegree of interest. Accordingly, the user having a low degree ofinterest in the facility set as the destination is likely to beattracted to the facility set as the destination. This effectivelyprompts the user to take a trip.

(5) A user having a low degree of interest in the facility set as thedestination is provided with a trip proposal including recommendationinformation added by a user having a high degree of affinity. Therefore,the user having a low degree of interest in the facility set as thedestination is likely to be attracted to the same facility. This promptsthe user to take a trip in a further preferred manner.

(6) For a user who has not accepted a trip proposal, corrections aremade to decrease the degree of affinity, the degree of interest, and thetrip preference that are parameters used to specify the trip proposalcontent. Therefore, such a user is subsequently provided with a tripproposal having an increased degree of recommendation. Therefore, ascompared with when trip proposals of the same content are repeatedlygiven to each user, the user is more likely to accept the trip proposal.This prompts the user to take a trip in a further effective manner.

(7) Even when a user does not accept a trip proposal, trip proposals arerepeatedly given to the same user with different proposal contents.Therefore, as compared with when each user is provided with a tripproposal only once under a certain situation, the user is more likely toaccept the trip proposal. This prompts the user to take a trip in afurther effective manner.

Second Embodiment

An information providing device according to a second embodiment willnow be described with reference to the drawings. The second embodimentdiffers from the first embodiment in that the trip proposal content andthe proposal order are determined taking into account the physicalability and possession of a car in addition to the degree of affinity,the degree of interest, and the trip preference of the users. Thefollowing description will focus on points that differ from the firstembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 15, in the second embodiment, when the physicalability of a first user is high enough to allow the first user to travelwithout any difficulty but the physical ability of a second user is lowsuch that there would be a difficulty when the second user travels, theproposal execution unit 115 gives an “affectionate recommendation” tothe second user. Here, in the “affectionate recommendation,” when it isdifficult for the user to travel to a facility that is set as adestination, the proposal execution unit 115 presents a traveling meansthat is suitable for the user. In the example illustrated in FIG. 15,the proposal execution unit 115 proposes a travel route which is highlyconvenient for a user having a low physical ability. In detail, theproposal execution unit 115 acquires a message from a user having a highphysical ability with regard to a user having a low physical ability.Then, the proposal execution unit 115 provides the user having a lowphysical ability with a message prompting to take a trip including themessage from the other user. Thus, a user who initially does notactively intend to take a trip because of the physical ability of theuser becomes aware of the other user and is likely to accept the tripproposal. Thus, the recommendation degree of a trip proposal is higherin an “affectionate recommendation” than a “normal recommendation.”

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 16, in the second embodiment, when thefirst user has a car but the second user does not, the proposalexecution unit 115 gives the “affectionate recommendation” to the seconduser. In the example illustrated in FIG. 16, the second user that has nocar corresponds to the user who has a difficulty in traveling to afacility set as the destination. Further, in this example, the proposalexecution unit 115 provides the user with a message prompting to take atrip including a message from the outer user who has a car, for example,a message inviting the user having no car to ride the car together withthe first user. Therefore, the user who initially does not activelyintend to take a trip because the user has no car becomes aware of theother user and is likely to accept the trip proposal. Thus, therecommendation degree of a trip proposal is higher in an “affectionaterecommendation” than a “normal recommendation.”

In the examples illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16, when the “affectionaterecommendation” is given, it is necessary for the proposal executionunit 115 to first inquire the user who has no difficulty in traveling tothe destination on whether or not there is a traveling means that wouldresult in no difficulty when traveling to the destination. Therefore,when the “normal recommendation” is given to the first user and the“affectionate recommendation” is given to the second user, the proposalexecution unit 115 sets the trip proposal order so that a higherpriority is given to the first user than the second user. The proposalexecution unit 115 first issues the “normal recommendation” includingthe inquiry as to whether or not there is a traveling means to the firstuser and then gives the “affectionate recommendation” includinginformation related to the traveling means, which has been obtainedthrough the inquiry, to the second user.

Depending on the degree of affinity between the first and second users,the degree of interest, and the trip preference, the proposal executionunit 115 may give a “high recommendation” to the first user and give an“affectionate recommendation” to the second user. In this case, when the“high recommendation” and the “affectionate recommendation” are bothprovided, higher priority is given to “high recommendation” in the orderof proposal. Therefore, the proposal execution unit 115 first makes aninquiry to the second user on the recommendation information of thefacility. Then, the proposal execution unit 115 gives the “highrecommendation,” which includes the recommendation information of thefacility obtained through the inquiry, to the first user. In this case,an inquiry related to the traveling means is added to the “highrecommendation.” Thereafter, the proposal execution unit 115 gives the“affectionate recommendation,” which includes the information related tothe traveling means obtained through the inquiry, to the second user. Inthe example described above, the “high recommendation” is given priorityover “affectionate recommendation.” Instead, “affectionaterecommendation” may be given higher priority. In other words, a ruleneed not be set in the order for proposing a trip to each user as longas the trip proposal includes the information obtained through theinquiries made to the first and second users.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, in the second embodiment, the proposalexecution unit 115 gives an “alternative means recommendation” to thefirst and second users when the first and second users have no car. Inthe “alternative means recommendation,” the proposal execution unit 115presents a traveling means combining a train and a rental car as analternative traveling means to the destination when the first and secondusers have no car. Therefore, the first and second users who initiallydo not consider taking the trip to the facility selected as thedestination because they have no car become aware of the alternativetraveling means and is more likely to accept the trip proposal. Thus,the recommendation degree of a trip proposal is higher in an“alternative means recommendation” than a “normal recommendation.” Whenthe “alternative means recommendation” is given like in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 17, the proposal execution unit 115 does not need toset a rule in the proposal order to each user since the users do notexchange messages. This differs from the case in which there is a “highrecommendation” and an “affectionate recommendation.”

FIG. 18 illustrates a list of corresponding relationships between thedegree of affinity of the two users subject to the trip proposal, thedegree of interest, the trip preference, the physical ability, thepossession of a car, the trip proposal content, and the proposal order.As illustrated in FIG. 18, the proposal execution unit 115 gives anappropriate trip proposal to each user in accordance with the physicalability and the possession of a car of each user in addition to thedegree of affinity, the degree of interest, and the trip preference ofeach users subject to the trip proposal and the relative relationship ofthe degree of interest between the users.

In addition to the advantages of the first embodiment, the secondembodiment has the advantages described below.

(8) Even when a user subject to a trip proposal has a difficulty inmoving to a facility set as a destination such as when the user has adifficulty in walking or the user has no car, such factors are copeswith when the user is provided with the trip proposal. This allows awide range of users in various environments to be prompted to taketrips.

Third Embodiment

An information providing device according to a third embodiment will nowbe described with reference to the drawings. The third embodimentdiffers from the first embodiment in that the trip proposal content andproposal order are determined taking into account the relationshipbetween the users in addition to the degree of affinity, the degree ofinterest, and the trip preference. The following description will focuson differences from the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 19, in the third embodiment, the proposalexecution unit 115 acquires data related to a social relation betweenusers such as a parent-child relationship from, for example, dataregistered to a phone book in the mobile information terminal 200 ordata registered as SNS information to an external server 300. Further,when there is a hierarchical relationship between the users, and thereis a difference in trip-related privileges, the proposal execution unit115 gives a “message recommendation” to a user having a lower privilege.Here, in the “message recommendation,” the proposal execution unit 115adds a message from a user having a relatively high trip-relatedprivilege. Thus, the user who initially cannot determine whether or notto take a trip is more likely to accept the trip proposal because of theadvice from the user having a relatively strong position in the socialrelation. Thus, the degree of recommendation for a trip proposal contentis higher in a “message recommendation” than a “normal recommendation.”

The level of a trip-related privilege generally means that when theusers have a parent-child relationship, the parent is considered to havea higher trip-related privilege than the child. Further, when the usersare friends, the users have equal trip-related privileges. However, thelevel of trip-related privilege is not necessarily determined by onlythe social relation between the users. The level of trip-relatedprivilege may be determined in view of various conditions such as age,sex, family structure, or the like of the user.

When a “message recommendation” is given like in the example illustratedin FIG. 19, it is necessary for the proposal execution unit 115 to makean inquiry for a message from the user having the relatively hightrip-related privilege. When the “normal recommendation” is given to thefirst user like in the example illustrated in FIG. 19 and the “messagerecommendation” is given to the second user, the proposal execution unit115 sets the trip proposal order so that higher priority is given to thefirst user than the second user. Therefore, the proposal execution unit115 first issues the “normal recommendation” to the first user includingan inquiry for a message and gives the “message recommendation” to thesecond user including information related to the message obtainedthrough the inquiry.

Depending on the degree of affinity between the first and second users,the degree of interest, and the trip preference, the proposal executionunit 115 may give a “high recommendation” to the second user and give a“message recommendation” to the first user. In this case, “highrecommendation” is given priority over “message recommendation” in theproposal order. Therefore, the proposal execution unit 115 first makesan inquiry to the first user for recommendation information on thefacility and gives the “high recommendation” to the second userincluding the recommendation information of the facility obtainedthrough the inquiry. The second user is also provided with an inquiryfor a message used to generate a “message recommendation.” Thereafter,the proposal execution unit 115 gives the “message recommendation” tothe first user including the information related to the message obtainedthrough the inquiry. In the example described above, “highrecommendation” is given priority over “message recommendation” in thetrip proposal order. Instead, “message recommendation” may be givenhigher priority. In other words, a rule need not be set in the order forproposing a trip to each user as long as the trip proposal includes theinformation obtained through the inquiries made to the first and secondusers.

FIG. 20 illustrates a list of corresponding relationships between thedegree of affinity, the degree of interest, the trip preference, and therelationship of the two users subject to the trip proposal, the tripproposal content, and the proposal order. As illustrated in FIG. 20, theproposal execution unit 115 gives an appropriate trip proposal to eachuser in accordance with the relationship between the users in additionto the degree of affinity, the degree of interest, and the trippreference of the users subject to the trip proposal.

In addition to the advantages of the first and second embodiments, thethird embodiment has the advantages described below.

(9) When the users subject to the trip proposal have a hierarchicalrelation with regard to trip-related privileges, a message from a userhaving a relatively high privilege is included in a trip proposal givento a user having a relatively low privilege. In this case, since themessage from the user having a relatively high privilege is included inthe trip proposal, the user having the relatively low privilege is morelikely to accept the trip proposal. This prompts the user to take a tripin a further preferred manner.

Other Embodiments

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be embodied in many other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention. Particularly, it should beunderstood that the present invention may be embodied in the followingforms.

In the above embodiments, the proposal execution unit 115 updates theparameters related to the degree of affinity, the degree of interest,and the trip preference of the users in accordance with whether or notthe trip proposal is accepted by the users. Instead of or in addition toupdating the parameters, the proposal execution unit 115 may update theparameters related to the degree of affinity, the degree of interest,and the trip preference of the users based on messages exchanged betweenthe users through the mobile information terminal 200 when a trip isproposed. In this case, the proposal execution unit 115 does not need toupdate the parameters related to the degree of affinity, the degree ofinterest, and the trip preference together and may individually updatethe parameters in accordance with the content of the message.

In the above embodiments, when the parameters related to the degree ofaffinity, the degree of interest, and the trip preference of the usersare updated in accordance with a response to a trip proposal from auser, the proposal execution unit 115 determines whether or not the tripproposal content has been changed based on the updated parameter.Further, the proposal execution unit 115 gives a trip proposal to thesame user with the updated proposal content when the proposal content isdetermined to have been changed. Instead, when the trip proposal is notaccepted by the user, the proposal execution unit 115 may change theuser subject to the proposal without giving the trip proposal to thesame user again.

In the above embodiments, the proposal execution unit 115 updates theparameters related to the degree of affinity, the degree of interest,and the trip preference of the users in accordance with a response to atrip proposal from a user. However, the parameters do not have to beupdated in accordance with a response to a trip proposal from a user aslong as information related to various parameters such as the tripmovement history, SNS information, and watched television information ofthe user is periodically updated.

In the third embodiment, the proposal execution unit 115 adds a messagefrom a user having a relatively high trip-related privilege when thereis a hierarchical relationship between the users and a difference in thelevel of trip-related privilege. Instead, the proposal execution unit115 may change the trip proposal order without changing the tripproposal content even when there is a difference in the level oftrip-related privilege between the users. In this case, preferably, theproposal execution unit 115 first gives a trip proposal to the userhaving the relatively high trip-related privilege. When the tripproposal is accepted, the proposal execution unit 115 gives the tripproposal to the user having a relatively low privilege. This is becausewhen a user having a relatively high trip-related privilege accepts thetrip proposal, the trip would likely occur. Thus, a trip can beefficiently proposed by first providing a trip proposal to the userhaving the relatively high privilege.

In the third embodiment, the proposal execution unit 115 gives anappropriate trip proposal to each user in accordance with therelationship between the users in addition to the degree of affinity,the degree of interest, and the trip preference of the users subject tothe trip proposal. Additionally, in the same manner as the secondembodiment, the proposal execution unit 115 may provide each user thatis subject to a trip proposal with an appropriate trip proposal thatfurther takes into account the physical ability and the possession of acar.

In the second embodiment, the proposal execution unit 115 determineswhether or not the user has a difficulty in traveling to a facility setas a destination in accordance with the physical ability or thepossession of a car. However, the proposal execution unit 115 may useother elements such as the possession of other traveling means such as amotorcycle or the skill for driving a car when determining whether ornot the user has a difficulty in traveling to the facility set as thedestination.

In the second embodiment, among the first and second users subject tothe trip proposal, when the first user has a difficulty in traveling toa facility set as a destination, the proposal execution unit 115 firstinquires the second user whether or not a traveling means is availableto the second user. Instead, the proposal execution unit 115 may firstinquire a user of desires resulting from a difficulty to travel to thefacility set as the destination and set the traveling means to thedestination by taking into account the desire.

In the above embodiments, under the condition that the degree ofaffinity between the users subject to the trip proposal is high, theproposal execution unit 115 obtains information recommending a facilityset as a destination from a user having a high degree of interest in thefacility and provides another user with a trip proposal including therecommendation information. Instead, regardless of the degree ofaffinity between the users subject to the trip proposal, the proposalexecution unit 115 may provide a trip proposal including therecommendation information of the facility obtained from a user havingthe high degree of interest in the facility.

In the above embodiments, when the users subject to the trip proposalinclude a user having a high degree of interest in the facility set asthe destination and a user having a moderate or low degree of interestin the facility, the proposal execution unit 115 provides a tripproposal including information recommending the facility obtained fromthe user having a high degree of interest in the facility. When thefirst and second users subject to the trip proposal both have a highdegree of interest in the facility set as the destination, the proposalexecution unit 115 may provide each user with a trip proposal includingrecommendation information of the facility obtained from the other user.

In the above embodiments, when at least one of the degree of interest inthe facility set as the destination and the trip preference is medium orlow to at least one of the users subject to the trip proposal, theproposal execution unit 115 adds a facility that the user has a highdegree of interest in and is located in the map data near the facilityoriginally set as the destination to a trip proposal. Instead, under thecondition that at least one of the degree of interest in the facilityset as the destination and the trip preference is medium or low for bothof the two users subject to the trip proposal, the proposal executionunit 115 may provide a trip proposal including the additionaldestination. In this case, the proposal execution unit 115 may add afacility in which both users have a high degree of interest as adestination or may add each facility in which each individual user has ahigh degree of interest.

In the above embodiments, the trip preference estimation unit 113compares the level of burden when multiple users take a trip under thesame situation to estimate the trip preference of the user. The trippreference estimation unit 113 may use other elements such as thefrequency of trips taken by a user or data related to a personalcharacteristic input by the user as an element for determining the trippreference of the user.

The above embodiments have been described in connection with the examplein which the number of users subject to the trip proposal is two.However, the number of users subject to the trip proposal is notnecessarily two and may be three or greater. In this case, the proposalexecution unit 115 may give the trip proposal based on the degree ofaffinity between the users subject to the trip proposal, the degree ofinterest, and the trip preference.

The present examples and embodiments are to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limitedto the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope andequivalence of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An information providing device configured to propose a trip to multiple users in parallel, the information providing device comprising: a degree-of-affinity estimation unit configured to estimate a degree of affinity of each of the users with respect to another one of the users; a proposal subject determination unit that selects, from the multiple users, a combination of users of which the degree of affinity is greater than or equal to a first degree-of-affinity threshold value and determines that the users included in the selected combination are users that are subject to the trip proposal; a degree-of-interest estimation unit configured to estimate a degree of interest in each of a plurality of locations that are destination candidates for each of the subject users; a trip preference estimation unit configured to estimate a trip preference that is an index indicating a degree of preference for taking a trip for each of the subject users; and a proposal execution unit configured to set a location in which the degree of interest of a first one of the subject users is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value as a destination of the trip proposal and provide the subject users with the trip proposal in which the location is set as the destination, wherein the proposal execution unit is configured to provide a second one of the subject users with a first trip proposal if the degree of affinity between the subject users is greater than or equal to a second degree-of-affinity threshold value, which is greater than the first degree-of-affinity threshold value, when the degree of interest of the second user in the set location is greater than or equal to the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value and the trip preference of the second user is greater than or equal to a predetermined trip preference threshold value, the proposal execution unit is configured to provide the second user with a second trip proposal if the degree of interest of the second user in the set location is less than the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value or if the trip preference of the second user is less than the predetermined trip preference threshold value, and in the second trip proposal, a degree of recommendation of the trip proposal is increased from the first trip proposal.
 2. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the trip preference estimation unit is configured to store data related to burden on each user when taking a trip in a storage unit in association with each situation of the user, read from the storage unit and compare the burden of the users when taking a trip under the same situation, and estimate the trip preference based on the comparison so that the trip preference of a user having a relatively large burden is relatively small.
 3. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein when providing the second trip proposal, the proposal execution unit is configured to add a destination that is a location in which a user provided with the second trip proposal has a relatively high degree of interest and the location is within a predetermined range from the location originally set as the destination.
 4. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the proposal execution unit is configured to provide the second user with the second trip proposal including information recommending the location obtained from the first user when the degree of interest of the second user in the set location is less than the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value.
 5. The information providing device according to claim 4, wherein the proposal execution unit is configured to provide the second trip proposal including the recommendation information for the location obtained from the first user under a condition that the degree of affinity between the subject users is greater than or equal to the second degree-of-affinity threshold value.
 6. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein when at least one of the subject users has a difficulty in traveling to the location that is set as the destination, the proposal execution unit is configured to present a traveling means that copes with the difficulty of the user when providing the trip proposal.
 7. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the proposal execution unit is configured to acquire data related to a social relation between the subject users, compare trip-related privileges of the subject users based on the acquired data related to the social relation, and provide a user having a relatively low trip-related privilege with a trip proposal including a message from a user having a relatively high trip-related privilege.
 8. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the proposal execution unit is configured to acquire a response from the subject user to the trip proposal and update at least one of the degree of affinity between the subject users, the degree of interest in the location set as the destination, and the trip preference based on the acquired responses.
 9. The information providing device according to claim 8, wherein when the trip proposal is not accepted by at least one of the subject users, the proposal execution unit is configured to determine whether or not to change the trip proposal content based on the updated data of the degree of affinity, the degree of interest in the location set as the destination, and the trip preference, and the proposal execution unit is configured to provide the at least one of the subject users that did not accept the trip proposal with a changed proposal content when determining that the proposal content has been changed.
 10. An information providing method for proposing a trip to multiple users in parallel, the method comprising: estimating a degree of affinity of each of the users with respect to another one of the users; selecting, from the multiple users, a combination of users of which the degree of affinity is greater than or equal to a first degree-of-affinity threshold value and determining that the users included in the selected combination are users that are subject to the trip proposal; estimating a degree of interest in each of a plurality of locations that are destination candidates for each of the subject users; estimating a trip preference that is an index indicating a degree of preference for taking a trip for each of the subject users; setting a location in which the degree of interest of a first one of the subject users is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value as a destination of the trip proposal and providing the subject users with the trip proposal in which the location is set as the destination; providing a second one of the subject users with a first trip proposal if the degree of affinity between the subject users is greater than or equal to a second degree-of-affinity threshold value, which is greater than the first degree-of-affinity threshold value, when the degree of interest of the second user in the set location is greater than or equal to the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value and the trip preference of the second user is greater than or equal to a predetermined trip preference threshold value; and providing the second user with a second trip proposal if the degree of interest of the second user in the set location is less than the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value or if the trip preference of the second user is less than the predetermined trip preference threshold value, wherein in the second trip proposal, a degree of recommendation of the trip proposal is increased from the first trip proposal.
 11. An information providing device configured to propose a trip to multiple users in parallel, the information providing device comprising circuitry configured to: estimate a degree of affinity of each of the users with respect to another one of the users; select, from the multiple users, a combination of users of which the degree of affinity is greater than or equal to a first degree-of-affinity threshold value and determine that the users included in the selected combination are users that are subject to the trip proposal; estimate a degree of interest in each of a plurality of locations that are destination candidates for each of the subject users; estimate a trip preference that is an index indicating a degree of preference for taking a trip for each of the subject users; set a location in which the degree of interest of a first one of the subject users is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value as a destination of the trip proposal and provide the subject users with the trip proposal in which the location is set as the destination; provide a second one of the subject users with a first trip proposal if the degree of affinity between the subject users is greater than or equal to a second degree-of-affinity threshold value, which is greater than the first degree-of-affinity threshold value, when the degree of interest of the second user in the set location is greater than or equal to the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value and the trip preference of the second user is greater than or equal to a predetermined trip preference threshold value; and provide the second user with a second trip proposal if the degree of interest of the second user in the set location is less than the predetermined degree-of-interest threshold value or if the trip preference of the second user is less than the predetermined trip preference threshold value, wherein in the second trip proposal, a degree of recommendation of the trip proposal is increased from the first trip proposal. 